Online Lesson- Basic Chord Theory and Nashville Numbering Part 1
Imagine this- You are in rehearsal and you have your chord sheet for “Lord Let Your Love” sitting in front of you. You are ready to rehearse when your group realizes that the key it is written in is too high and it needs to be changed. At this point you have two options. Scratch the song, or spend 5 minutes telling everyone what the new chords are, having them write them down, scratching out the old chords etc.
What if there were a third option? If your band understands basic chord theory and the Nashville Numbering system there can be. You can equip your band with the ability to play any song in any key.
This is what we are doing with our youth worship team. I have written a lesson complete with examples and exercises that explains what I am talking about. I will break it into sections and post it over the next few days.
Part I- Intervals
In this lesson you will get an understanding of basic chord theory, the Nashville Numbering system and practical applications for using the system to enable you to expand your ability to play songs in any key. Let’s get started.
What is an interval- An interval is the amount of space between any two given notes. We will be dealing mostly with half steps and whole steps. Look at the chart below
C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B C
That is what is called a chromatic scale. A chromatic scale is what you get when you play every white and black note on a piano in sequence. You play a chromatic scale on guitar by playing every fret on a given string up the neck.
Half Steps and Whole Steps
A half step is the interval between one given note and the note immediately next two it.
A whole step is the interval you get when you skip one note in between.
We use an (H) to denote Half step and a (W) to denote whole step
Ex. 1. Write whether each interval is a whole step (W) or half step (H)
1. C-C# _(H)_
2. D-E _____
3. A-A# _____
4. F-G _____
5. E-F _____
Ex. 2. I’ll give you the first note and the interval. You fill in the correct second note.
1. C (H) _C#_
2. D (W) _____
3. C# (H) ____
4. A (W) ____
5. E (W) ____
Please feel free to use this with your praise team or for personal study. If you want the answers I can get those to you.
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[...] Numbering system. This lesson deals with how to put together scales and chords. It is built on lesson one which talked about intervals and whole and half [...]
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